Ground broken for new Ojai ER

$1.8 million facility will be double the size of existing emergency room

By Nao Braverman

Ground breaking for the Ojai Valley Community Hospital’s new Emergency Room was celebrated by about 100 people on Thursday, including physicians, nurses, Emergency Room staff, members of the OVCH Foundation, the OVCH Guild, and the local community.
“It was a real sharing of the progress that has been made,” said Nita Whaley, a board member of the OVCH Foundation.
In the year 2000, a community survey by the OVCH Foundation showed an improved Emergency Room was a top priority.
After OVCH’s merger with Community Memorial Hospital two and a half years ago, Ojai resident Chilant Sprague, who passed away this fall, provided the seed money for the Emergency Room. The Community Memorial Hospital then agreed to provide additional funds and partner with the OVCH Foundation and OVCH Guild to build the facility.
The new Emergency Room will be twice the size of the old one, going from three beds to six, and will offer greater privacy and comfort for patients and their family, said Whaley. A new waiting and admitting area will also be added to the facility.
The community is paying for at least half of the $1.8 million project through the OVCH Foundation and OVCH Guild.
“The proceeds from the last three Nightingale Balls, which were very successful, have gone toward the Emergency Room,” said Whaley. Construction is expected to be completed next summer, she said.